"Grand slam force The Grand Slam Force is a bidding convention in contract bridge that was developed by Ely Culbertson in 1936. It is intended to be used in cases where the combined hands of a partnership are so strong that a slam (winning at least 12 tricks) is a near-certainty and a grand slam (winning all 13 tricks) is a possibility. It allows one partner to gain information on the quality of trumps in the other partner's hand. When this convention is in force, a bid of 5NT (five notrump), when it does not conflict with other conventions used"
"Contract bridge Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Millions of people play bridge worldwide in clubs, tournaments, online and with friends at home, making it one of the world's most popular card games, particularly among seniors. The World Bridge Federation (WBF) is the governing body for international competitive bridge, with numerous other bodies governing bridge at the regional level. The game consists of several , each progressing through"
"Bridge convention Contract bridge is a trick-taking card game played by four players in two competing partnerships in which a sequence of , also known as the auction, precedes the play of the cards. The purpose of this bidding is for players to inform their partners of the content of their hand and to arrive at a suitable contract at which to play the hand (or to prevent the opponents from arriving at a suitable contract). Although bidding is often ""natural"" (describing a hand by simple reference to possession, shape, and strength of the named suit) players may also bid"
"Bergen raises In contract bridge, Bergen raises are conventional treatments of responses to a major suit opening in a five-card major system. Developed by Marty Bergen and first published in April 1982, Bergen raises are based on the Law of total tricks, a hand evaluation concept which states that with a combined nine trumps in the partnership one should compete to at least the three-level regardless of combined high card strength. Bergen recommended that instead of the more rare occurrence in the use of the 3 and 3 response as a to show a strong hand, these bids should be"
"by all players. The contractor is of course vulnerable however, and if he or she fails to take the number of tricks bidden, he or she loses that number of points. A player wishing to bid all eight tricks calls ""shooter"", and if successful gains not eight but 12 points. Score is kept on paper and the game is played to 31. A player bidding less than eight and subsequently winning all eight tricks will only score eight points. A somewhat popular three-handed variation exists. Players sit as though there is a ""ghost player"" in the fourth position. A hand"
"can be combined with other bidding system, like Acol and Five-card majors, although originally designed for Culbertson's own one. Asking bid Asking bid within Contract Bridge is an old slam seeking convention. Especially in combination with either Culbertson's 4 NT and 5 NT trump related questions - or the 5 NT Grand slam force convention, Grand Slams (any contract that prior to the play declares all 13 tricks to be taken) can be discovered with a good precision. However, in order to avoid confusion, one must keep the ""asking colour"", ""the agreed trump"" and the two remaining so called ""side"
"Larry Cohen (bridge) Larry Neil Cohen (born April 14, 1959) is an American bridge player, writer and teacher. He is best known as an advocate for the ""Law of Total Tricks"" as a guide in the . He has won 25 North American Bridge Championships (NABC) events including the Vanderbilt, two Spingolds, two Reisingers, three Life Master Pairs, and four Blue Ribbon Pairs, and he is a two-time winner of the Cavendish Invitational Pairs cash prize tournament. Cohen's most important work on ""the Law"" was ""To Bid or Not to Bid: The LAW of Total Tricks"", published in 1992. It"
"to the first trick, regardless of who won the auction, but in some, such as Contract Bridge, the first lead is made by the player next in rotation after the contractor, so that the contractor plays last to that trick. In ""precision"" or ""exact-prediction"" games, all players choose their winning condition independently: to win precisely a predicted number of tricks (Oh Hell) or card points (Differenzler). Each player's bid stands (in partnership games the partners' bids are often combined), and each player or partnership then tries to take exactly the number of tricks or points they bid, and are rewarded"
"Law of total tricks In contract bridge, the Law of total tricks (abbreviated here as LoTT) is a guideline used to help determine how high to bid in a competitive auction. It is not really a law (because counterexamples are easy to find) but a method of hand evaluation which describes a relationship that seems to exist somewhat regularly. Written by Jean-René Vernes for French players in the 1950s as a rule of thumb, it was first described in English in 1966 International Bridge Academy Annals. It received more notice from appearing in The Bridge World in June 1969. In"
"contract) It turns out that South held 2 Aces in his hand. Since it was found that ""a significant proportion of the class of players in question, using the methods of the partnership"" (Law 16B1b) would have doubled the final contract (the double is described as a 'logical alternative') and that South's 'pass' was 'demonstrably suggested' (Law 16B1a) by the fast pass by North, the final contract was changed to '4 spades doubled', making 10 tricks (which scores more for East-West) North - opens the bidding with '1 - Heart' East - (holding a hand with 3 spades, 1 heart,"
"hands) = the suggested contract level to which the partnership should bid. So, 15 half-losers opposite 15 half-losers leads to 19-(15+15)/2 = 4-level contract. Players already familiar with this formula will recognize the difference between 25 (total projected tricks) and 19 (projected contract level) as the number of tricks required by declarer to secure a ""book"", which is 6. There is no evidence that this method is better than the original losing trick count. For shapely hands where a trump fit has been agreed, the combined length of the trump suit can be more significant than points or HCP in"
"Contract Bridge League international trials in 1963, for the 1964 World Team Olympiad. That was a ""pairs trial"" from which the winning pair and two of the three runners-up would be selected as a 6-person team. Dallas businessman Ira Corn established the first full-time professional team in 1968, the Dallas Aces, later simply Aces. Hamman joined in 1969, as the sixth player, and established a partnership with Billy Eisenberg. Following the retirement of Italy's Blue team, they won the 1970 Bermuda Bowl as North America representative and repeated in 1971 as defending champion. He has won 12 world championships and"
"have only four and the defenders can cash only two additional diamond tricks (for a total of three) upon winning the ace of clubs. Hold up (bridge) In the card game of contract bridge, to hold up means to play low to a trick led by the opponents, losing it intentionally in order to sever their communication. The primary purpose is to give as many tricks to opponents as needed to exhaust all the cards in the suit from one of their hands. If that hand regains the lead, it will not be able to put the partner on lead"
"tricks. The highest bid becomes the contract and the highest bidder is the ""contractor"", known in some games as the ""declarer"" or ""taker"", who then plays either with or without a partner. The other players become ""opponents"" or ""defenders"", whose main goal is to prevent the contract being met. They may announce a ""contra"" against the contractor which doubles the points for the hand. The contractor can declare a ""recontra"" which will double the points again. Popular examples of games with auctions include Contract bridge, Pinochle, tarot games, Skat, Belote and Twenty-Eight. In many auction games the eldest hand leads"
"on, until all eight tricks have been completed. Note that the cards follow the normal order of hierarchy used in bridge, except that the 10 is the highest possible card - the order is 10, ace, king, queen, jack, 9, 8, 7. Players are not allowed to talk about their cards during the playing phase of the game. Unlike Bridge, it's not the numbers of tricks taken that decides the score. The cards are all assigned a special value: At the end of the deal, the two pairs count up the value of their cards and declare them. The total"
"amount of the bid, they get the points they bid, otherwise, they lose the number of points indicated by their bid. In any case, the points they got in play do not directly affect their score. The opponents get what they were able to collect. If either side got no tricks, the original high bid (the bid before raising after exchanging cards) is subtracted from their score. Getting all the tricks is called ""läpiajo"" (""drive-through""), equalling grand slam in Bridge. If the contract is over 160, it is possible for the declarer side to play ""läpiajo"" and still not make"
"the 18th century for whist, and later bridge, which means winning all the tricks in the round. The term slam is used in trick-taking games such as Bridge, Spades and Whist. Each player receives 12 cards in batches of 4. The remaining 4 cards form a ""widow"", to be taken up by the player who makes a contract. Starting with eldest hand, the players bid (in multiples of 5) for the privilege of taking up the widow and making trumps. The minimum bid is 100, and there are 165 points in the game. A player who does not want to"
"Asking bid Asking bid within Contract Bridge is an old slam seeking convention. Especially in combination with either Culbertson's 4 NT and 5 NT trump related questions - or the 5 NT Grand slam force convention, Grand Slams (any contract that prior to the play declares all 13 tricks to be taken) can be discovered with a good precision. However, in order to avoid confusion, one must keep the ""asking colour"", ""the agreed trump"" and the two remaining so called ""side colours"" apart. And reply according to certain principles. Asking Bids deals with first and second controls, rather than the"
"9 tricks. With 4.5 losers opposite 7.5 losers: (19-12) = 7-level contract, or (25-12) = 13 tricks. This can help guide the bidding, as a standard opening hand typically has no more than 7.5 losers, and a typical hand with enough strength to respond typically has no more than 9.5 losers. So, when an 8-card or longer major-suit fit has been established, if the opening bidder holds a hand that has one less loser than a minimum opening hand, then opener can safely invite to game and bid to the three-level. If opener holds a hand that has two fewer"
"History of contract bridge The history of contract bridge, one of the world's most popular partnership card games, may be dated from the early 16th-century invention of trick-taking games such as whist. Bridge departed from whist with the creation of in the 19th century, and evolved through the late 19th and early 20th centuries to form the present game. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word ""bridge"" is the English pronunciation of the game called """"biritch"""". It followed on from whist, which initially was the dominant trick-playing game and enjoyed a loyal following for centuries. The oldest known reference"
"if they are positive they will take all remaining tricks. Once the final trick is played, the hand is then scored. Many variants for scoring exist; what follows is the basic method. Once a hand is completed, the players count the number of tricks they took and, in the case of partnerships or teams, the members' trick counts are summed to form a team count. Each player's or team's trick count is then compared to their contract. If the player or team made at least the number of tricks bid, 10 points for each bid trick are awarded (a bid"
"Contract bridge diagram The diagram is typical of that used to illustrate a deal of 52 cards in four hands in the game of contract bridge. Each hand is designated by a point on the compass and so North-South are partners against East-West. Suit features include: The full deal diagram is usually drawn with North at the top, with the other hands following their normal compass orientation. For convenience and consistency, South is usually declarer, so that the reader can see the hand as if playing it; exceptions to this rule can occur when reporting deals from actual matches, but"
"possible. The winner of a trick leads to the next trick. The declarer must always win at least 7 of the 13 tricks played. Each trick beyond 6 scores 30 trick points, or 20 trick points in case of a minor suit contract (clubs or diamonds). For a notrumps contract, 10 trick points are added to the trick points total. When a partscore contract is won, declarer's partnership scores their trick points plus 50 bonus points. To win a game contract, declarer must achieve at least 100 trick points. When a game contract is won, declarer scores the trick points"
"ten to twelve high card points and four cards in the responder's suit, for a total of nine. Likewise, a preemptive raise, which is a bid of four of the opener's suit, requires five cards in that suit, for a total of ten. The Law of Total tricks allows the opening bidder to raise such responses by the number of cards in excess of five in that suit. Preempt Preempt (also spelled ""pre-empt"") is a bid in contract bridge whose primary objectives are (1) to thwart opponents' ability to bid to their best contract, with some safety, and (2) to"
"excess of 3 in the suit; for short suits only clear winner combinations are counted: An Acol strong 2 of a suit opening bid is made on 8 playing tricks (Landy 1998) This statistically derived method for evaluating Contract Bridge hands was developed by Zar Petkov. It attempts to account for many of the factors outlined above in a numerical way. A key differentiator between the bidding effectiveness of experts versus laymen is the use of hand visualisation during all stages of bidding. In his book ""The Secrets of Winning Bridge"", Jeff Rubens advises to focus on just a few"
"and doubled contracts are actually played out, and other contracts are judged made without actual card play. Another modern variant consists of eight hands, four hands of ordinary skruuvi and four hands of kotkas. Points are awarded only for made contracts, avoided tricks in forced misääri, and penalties for undertricks and penalties for taken aces in ""misääri"". In this variant, all the hands are played out, but the minimum allowed final contract is five odd tricks. Attribution: Vint Vint is a Russian card-game, similar to both bridge and whist and it is sometimes referred to as Russian whist. ""Vint"" means"
"plus 30 points for each trick beyond the minimum number needed to win the contract, or 20 trick points in case of a minor suit contract (clubs or diamonds), plus a bonus of 300 points. If declarer does not win the necessary number of tricks, then declarer's partnership scores 0 points and the opposing party scores 50 points for every missing trick. In the table this is written as negative scores (which do not exist). Minibridge Minibridge is a simplified form of the complex card game Contract Bridge designed to expose newcomers to declarer and defensive playing techniques without the"
"Singaporean bridge Singaporean bridge is a re-invention of sorts of the traditional game of contract bridge. This version of bridge derives its name from where it is believed to have been invented, Singapore, and just like its traditional predecessor, there are variations in the rules. It is also known as floating bridge. Essentially, a deck of 52 cards is used, and 4 hands of 13 are dealt. Players assume fixed seats, but unlike contract bridge, the partners are not determined at the outset by virtue of north-south or east-west — they are determined at the end of the bidding. There"
"the players, each receiving 13 cards. As in contract bridge, it is then decided which player becomes ""declarer"", but a key innovation of Minibridge is that this decision is taken out of the players' hands. Declarer's partner then lays open their hand, and declarer announces a contract. This is a trump suit or ""no trumps"", together with an undertaking to win more than half the tricks (""partscore"") or even to win 100 trick points or more (""game""). The remainder of the game is very similar to contract bridge. In particular, declarer's partner becomes ""dummy"" (i.e., declarer plays both hands). Each"
"in a contract to win at least eight tricks between them. The higher bid of Independence offers to win at least eight tricks playing solo. In either way, there is an extra bonus for winning all thirteen tricks formerly called ""la vole"", but now ""le chelem"", from English ""Slam"". All bids are solo, the lowest being to take four tricks in any suit. Each may be over-called by bidding higher number of tricks, or the same number in a better suit. For this purpose a better suit is that of Preference, previously determined by turning the last card of the"
"usually forcing to game - partnership agreement is required. Whether or not the convention is applicable if the fourth-suit bidder is a passed hand is also a matter of partnership agreement; there is no consensus amongst experts on the options as to its use being non-forcing, forcing, or forcing only after a reverse. It requires an invitational hand with at least 10 points, or 12-13 upwards if it is game-forcing and opener has not shown any extra strength. The convention was introduced by the British bridge author Norman Squire and is adopted by the majority of partnerships playing at competitive"
"parts of European Istanbul, where they apparently crossed every day to go to a coffeehouse to play cards."" Bridge is a four-player partnership trick-taking game with thirteen tricks per deal. The dominant variations of the game are rubber bridge, more common in social play; and duplicate bridge, which enables comparative scoring in tournament play. Each player is dealt thirteen cards from a standard 52-card deck. A starts when a player leads, i.e. plays the first card. The leader to the first trick is determined by the auction; the leader to each subsequent trick is the player who won the preceding"
"he is offering not to take any tricks. A Bettel beats a 6-trick Brandel. The highest contract, which beats all the others, is Mord, which is where a player has to take all 7 tricks. The player who has announced the highest bid wins the auction and leads to the first trick. Players must follow suit or, if not able to, play a trump. In a Bettel contract, in which there are no trumps, players must play a higher card if they can. Points for winning are awarded as follows: If the declarer (the winner of the auction) loses, he"